Portfolio: Court rules against AstraZeneca

Friday, December 7, 2012

The European Union’s highest court has upheld a 52.5 million euro ($69 million) antitrust fine levied against AstraZeneca for blocking the entry of cheaper rivals to its then bestseller ulcer drug Losec, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The decision is a blow for the British drugmaker and the wider pharmaceutical industry, which will in future have to take greater care not to overstep the mark in protecting branded medicines from cut-price generics.

The General Court, Europe’s second-highest, had backed the European Commission in 2010 against British drugmaker AstraZeneca, but cut the penalty to 52.5 million euros from an original 60 million euros.

The Commission, which acts as EU antitrust and competition authority, originally penalized AstraZeneca for actions that regulators said had kept Losec prices artificially high.

The Commission welcomed the court verdict upholding its actions while AstraZeneca said it was disappointed, adding that it took compliance with all laws seriously.

AstraZeneca has its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington.

OFFERING: Liberty Property Trust of East Whiteland on Friday said that its limited partnership subsidiary, Liberty Property Limited Partnership, has priced a $300 million offering of 3.375 percent senior unsecured notes under its existing shelf registration.

The notes are due June 15, 2023 and were priced to yield 3.386 percent.

The offering is expected to close on Dec. 10.

The proceeds will be used to repay indebtedness outstanding under the Company’s unsecured credit facility and for general corporate purposes.

CHAPTER 11: A debt-laden natural gas drilling company that had counted on tapping the riches of New York’s part of the Marcellus Shale filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday while the state’s 4-year-old moratorium on hydrofracking remains in place.

Norse Energy Corp., based in Oslo, Norway, that its U.S. subsidiary had filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 reorganization.

Norse has 130,000 acres under lease for gas drilling in New York state. But the state Department of Environmental Conservation has had a moratorium on drilling permits since it launched an environmental impact review in 2008.

The DEC is developing new regulations for fracking, or high-volume hydraulic fracturing, a controversial technology used to free gas from shale.

“It isn’t just regulatory delays. We had debts incurred outside of New York that we’re paying back,” said Dennis Holbrook, Norse’s Buffalo-based chief legal officer. “But clearly the regulatory delays in New York have had a negative impact on this company.”

Norse has been selling off assets, primarily oil and gas leases and some production properties, to pay debts and meet operating expenses. “But over time, the valuations have consistently declined for those assets because of a general perception that New York is not open for business,” Holbrook said.